09.05.06
The Weekend Recap
European Pub Teams?
The talk after the weekend of Euro 2008 qualifiers is including a qualifying round for the weaker teams in the confederation. Talk of Andorra, 5-0 losers to England, and the Faroe Islands, 6-0 losers to Scotland, struggling against pub teams is probably overstated.
The argument ranges from giving the poor little countries a chance to win some matches. The counterargument being that it gives them a chance to improve even if they might never qualify for a major tournament.
Estonia is a good argument for the latter. In their first 20 competitive matches, the managed a single point with a -58 goal difference in 1994 World Cup and Euro 96 qualification. Ten years later, Estonia finished off a World Cup qualifying effort with 17 points and a -1 goal difference in 12 matches. Of course they may be the exception to the rule.
The Rest of the Qualifiers
In a week in which 20% of the matches had any interest in the eyes of Arsene Wenger, the results went the way of the favorites for the most part. There were a couple of surprises, though.
A Jari Litmanen brace and a third from Mika Vayrynen gave Finland a shock 3-1 win in Poland. Iceland cruised to a 3-0 win in Northern Ireland. Most shocking of all was Italy’s 1-1 draw against Lithuania.
The World Champions continue to suffer from a World Cup hangover, and it doesn’t get easier with France as the next opponents.
Asian Cup Qualifying
With Australia having been qualified for over a month, Asian Cup qualifiers continued for the 11 other spots up for grabs. Saudi Arabia went top in Group A after beating Japan 1-0 on a Saleh Bashir goal. In South Korea, Vahid Hashemian grabbed a late equalizer to keep Iran in contact with the Koreans at the top of the group.
South American League Action
Boca Juniors continued their 100 percent start to the Apertura with a 2-0 win over eight-man Estudiantes . And just to show that things are returning to normal in Argentina, River Plate now sit third.
In Brazil, a Martos Mattos goal moved Corinthians out of the relegation zone in Serie A. While Rogerio Ceni scored yet another goal to move Sao Paulo even further clear at the top in a 3-1 win over Santa Cruz.
And in Paraguay, Nacional successfully defended the Unofficial World Club Championship to the tune of 4-0 over Sportivo Luqueño. Their next defense will be against Tacuary on Sunday.
09.01.06
Today’s News: September 1
This was always going to be a slow news day, but I will try anyway.
Boro’s Matthew Bates had to know what would happen with these photos. [The Sun]
Yes, there is absolutely noooo way I saw this happening to West Ham.[Sky Sports]
It turns out that Bristol City is just a front for a fight club. [Toronto Star]
UEFA will now punish imaginary card wavers with yellow cards themselves. [The Guardian]
Liverpool insist that Lucas Neill will soon be their property. Cue evil laughs. [BBC]
The 2006 Summer Transfer Window: Winners and Losers
Winners
Chelsea – So rich they can choose who to sell to, and affect where the best young prospects in the world can go. The Damien Duff transfer was a showcase of selling and not ruining your chances of winning the league. Roman Abramovich’s money probably played a role in Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano’s relocation to Upton Park. Let’s not forget their bullying of Arsenal that gave them one of the best left backs in the world in Ashley Cole.
Relations between Ajax and Feyenoord – For the first time since 1992, the two clubs collaborated on a transfer. Greek striker Angelos Charisteas moved from Amsterdam to Rotterdam in a €2.5 million move.
Juventus – The Serie B strugglers managed to hold on to more of their world class talent than they deserved to, although their ability to cope with the physicality of their new surroundings has not yet been tested.
Barcelona – The Catalan giants did not need to do much this summer and they still managed to improve. Aging legend Henrik Larsson departed with a Champions League medal, and Eidur Gudjohnsen was brought in from bitter rivals Chelsea. The additions of Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram should help them retain the Primera crown.
Losers
Arsenal – With no depth at the wing positions, and very little experience at the back even with the addition of William Gallas, it is difficult to say the Gunners really improved at all this summer. The future is bright though.
Fans of Corinthians – Not only have they had to endure a fall from grace from winning the title a year ago, they also had to see two of their best players leave yesterday with the club seeing none of that money. The very existance of the club is a real doubt should they be relegated this December.
MLS – The league continues to be unaware of its rather low place on the economic totem pole of the transfer market. Turning down a decent bid for Clint Dempsey was the last thing they needed to do to a player desperate to prove himself in Europe.
Manchester United – They brought in an overpriced, unproven midfielder in Michael Carrick. Then they acquired a backup goalkeeper in Tomasz Kuszczak, who was once scored on by the opposing keeper from 90 yards out. Sure they got £12 million for a player who never played a game for them in John Obi Mikel, but the depth in the squad has been utterly decimated. The damage of which is after the jump. Now they find themselves trying to win the league when Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea will be regular partners in the center of midfield. At least the Glazers have reduced the debt a little, right?
5 Intriguing Matches This Weekend
With Euro 2008 matches going on, this may seem like a difficult mission to find five good league fixtures. I will let you know at the end how hard this really was scouring the globe for good ones.
Melbourne Victory v. Sydney FC – The Victory, inspired by captain Kevin Muscat (left) finally knocked off Adelaide United last week to open the season with three points. Champions Sydney have to deal with the departure and exchange of words upon the departure of Dwight Yorke to Sunderland. Expect plenty of fireworks and few goals from this encounter.
FC Dallas v. Houston Dynamo – The Texas rivalry continues to build in a match between the top two sides in the Western Conference. Dallas will be hoping to end a four-game losing streak in front of the Pizza Hut Park faithful. The Dynamo will be looking to go top of the conference with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season.
Brentford v. Bradford City – It is early days in League One, but two promotion contenders meet to decide who can hang with leaders Nottingham Forest. Brentford, despite the long injury list they are sporting, are unbeaten this season. Bradford continue to be carried by Dean Windass, whose four goals have taken the Bantams up to third in their last four matches.
El Nacional v. Deportivo Quito – Someone will have to win this match in the hopes of ending Barcelona’s march to the Clausura in Ecuador. Deportivo Quito sit three behind in second place, while El Nacional are third; a further two points behind with a match in hand.
Sportivo Luqueño v. Nacional – The Unofficial World Club Championship hits Luqueño on Sunday. The bottom side in the Paraguayan Clausura will be hoping to move up against the Champions who are nowhere near the top of their own domestic competion.
As you can see from the placement of a League One match in this, it was quite difficult.
Euro 2008 Weekend Preview
The opening weekend of Euro 2008 qualifying fixtures for every group is upon us. And as Kazakhstan proved by getting a draw against Belgium, anything can happen. What follows are basically predictions for all of the matches with a bit of analysis for the more interesting games.
The Final Transfer of August…I Hope
William Gallas was tired of life at Chelsea. Being played out of position, and not really being challenged in league action were clearly taking their toll on the French international defender.
In the meantime, Ashley Cole was being tapped up by Chelsea. The huge wage increase was the driving factor in meeting up with Peter Kenyon and his associates. It was clear that at some point both players were going to have to leave their clubs.
The process of the swap deal began when Gallas did not turn up to preseason training and was subsequently excluded from the money spinning tour of America. Jose Mourinho wanted him to go public with his reasons for not playing this season. Gallas was willing to wait it out and join rivals Arsenal on a Bosman at the end of the season.
This could have all been done weeks ago, but Chelsea waited and waited until Arsenal could do nothing else in the transfer window after this deal. The Gunners wanted to get this done, but they also had the Jose Antonio Reyes saga to deal with.
Now both sides are presumably happy. The only guy who may not like this at all is the man who is backup to Ashley Cole in the England setup, Chelsea fullback Wayne Bridge.
08.31.06
Deadline Day Recap: Rest of Europe
And besides the gigantic leagues, the rest of the major leagues in Europe are dealing with deadline day as well.
Deadline Day Recap: Spain and Italy
Not to be forgotten are the two other highest rated leagues in Europe, as they conclude their own deals on deadline day.
Deadline Day Recap: England
This item will probably be updated a few more times over the rest of the day so we start in England of course.
Read the rest of this entry »
How Did That Happen?
With links to nearly every major club in Europe, Corinthians duo Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano were supposed to make a lot of money for themselves and for MSI. Yet, with hours remaining in the transfer window they were negotiating permanent deals with West Ham United. How did it come to this?
It’s quite simple on the part of the players involved and for MSI chairman Kia Joorabchian. The players had already refused to play another game for relegation strugglers Corinthians and were willing to play for any club in Europe, be it Chelsea or Leyton Orient. For Joorabchian, whose company actually owned the players, he knew he had to sell them today to whomever he could. The fact that he is a West Ham supporter probably played a role in the selection, but it could also be satisfactory for Roman Abramovich, who is rumored to be an investor in MSI.
And as with the Damien Duff deal, the Argentinian internationals still will likely not harm Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premiership, and they will certainly not affect their chances of winning the Champions League. It is also likely that MSI will get a large percentage of the fee when West Ham sell the pair.
